Senate Bill 8 would take tens of millions of dollars from school districts and give that money to charters schools—even if the number of charter school students does not increase. Traditional schools would be forced to cut staff and programs, while charter schools would see a windfall of taxpayer dollars.

The bill would give charter schools funds for programs they don’t even provide, including Head Start and More At Four, as well as millions in capital improvement money.

By creating a special commission to approve new charter schools, Senate Bill 8 would significantly diminish local control of public education and hand it over to an unelected state body.